


What Is Going On?

by paintedbluerose



Series: Lee Thinks You’re Cute [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brainwashing, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Iroh will hurt Long Feng, Lee thinks you’re cute, Long Feng is a dick, Past Brainwashing, Protective Iroh (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) whump, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko is brainwashed, Zuko needs help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27392548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintedbluerose/pseuds/paintedbluerose
Summary: Lee (brainwashed Zuko) is super excited to find out he has an Uncle. Sokka just wants this day to end. Iroh is starting to rethink things. Katara is not prepared for any of this.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong & Iroh & Katara & Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Dai Li & Zuko, Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Long Feng & Zuko
Series: Lee Thinks You’re Cute [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2001100
Comments: 25
Kudos: 192





	What Is Going On?

**Author's Note:**

> So, there was a Whumptober theme I did and after much thought and comments, I wanted to continue it. I actually had this sitting for almost two weeks because I wasn’t happy with it all but just gave up and was like eh post it.
> 
> I didn’t do chapter and went with series because I want the Whumptober to be separate.
> 
> Zuko may seem OOC but that’s because he’s out of it completely.

Lee was happy. He found new people and they said he had an Uncle! Which was great because Lee didn’t know he had any family. Did he have a brother or a sister? Maybe both? Oh this was going to be exciting!

“Where are we going?” Lee asked.

“We’re getting out of here.” The Water Tribe boy said. Lee really needed to get names.

“You mean we’re going to see the sun?!” Lee gasped. “I don’t remember the sun. I bet it’s amazing!”

“Anyone want to knock Sparky out? He’s a little odd.”

“I don’t know who Sparky is. But you shouldn’t knock people out. Violence is wrong.” Lee felt proud of his statement. He didn’t like how the group eyed him. “Is something wrong?”

“No. No, nothing is wrong. We’re just... surprised is all.” The bald kid rubbed the back of his neck and did not look at Lee. Was he lying? He couldn’t be lying. He looked so sweet and innocent!

“Oh. Okay.” Lee smiled. “Let’s leave then.”

The group walked in silence and Lee felt happiness bubbling inside. He started to hum, though he couldn’t remember ever hearing the song before. He was so glad he stepped out of his room!

When they reached outside, Lee giggled. “It’s so pretty! Look at the sun! And the water! And the grass!” He felt like a kid again. Well, he was a kid, but a younger kid.

A giant white fluffy animal landed next to the group. The bald kid seemed so happy to see it. It looked soft. Lee wanted to touch it. “Wow. He’s so big!” Lee touched the animals fur. “And soft.” The animal licked Lee and he giggled. “He’s so friendly.”

“Lee, this is Appa. He’s my flying bison.” The bald kid said.

“Wow! That’s amazing! Are you like an airbender?”

“I am.”

“This day is the best!” Lee couldn’t stop smiling. “Long Feng told me to stay in my room but I was so bored. Now I met new people, I found I have an Uncle, I got to pet a flying bison, I got to go outside, and I met an airbender!”

“Right...” Water Tribe glared at Lee. “This is great. Why don’t we all get on Appa and find Lee’s Uncle in Ba Sing Se because that should be so easy!”

“It would?” Lee blinked. “Is the city not large?”

Water Tribe smacked his forehead. “We don’t even know where to start!”

“Sure we do Sokka.” The other boy, with hook swords, said. “Tea shop. Lower Ring.”

“How do you know Jet?” Water Tribe-no, Sokka asked. (Lee had a name! Two names if Jet was the other boy.)

“I remembered. I saw Lee and his Uncle at a tea shop.”

“I love tea! Can we get some?” Lee asked.

Lee was ignored. He wanted to feel sad about that but he was so happy! The bald kid said Lee could get on top of Appa and it just blew his mind! Nothing could dampen his mood now!

~~~~

Sokka was confused and conflicted and annoyed. Zuko was completely brainwashed and was smiling! He smiled like one of those Joo Dee girls. It was Sokka’s idea to find Iroh. Sokka’s idea to take Zuko with them. Each moment that passed, Sokka regretted coming up with the idea.

Whatever. He had a new plan now. He and Toph would go to the tea shop. Toph could tell where Iroh was easily. They would get him, take him to the jerkbender, Katara would heal jerkbender and they would leave. Then they could talk to the Earth King. Everything would be right in the world.

“I think we should split up.” Katara whispered.

“What?! Why?”

“Zuko is bad off. It’s not going to be easy like Jet was. It’ll take a while. We can’t let him go to the Dai Li either. We can’t risk Zuko or Iroh be seen by the Earth King. I’ll stay with Zuko and Iroh and heal Zuko. You go to the Earth King.”

Sokka grumbled but agreed. Logically, it was the right thing to do. The two Princes of the Fire Nation coming to the Earth King to mention a war going on with said Fire Nation? Maybe not the best idea. Add a brainwashed firebender and who knows what would happen. “Fine. I don’t like you going with Zuko and Iroh but we don’t have a choice, do we?”

It didn’t take long for Appa to fly over the Lower Ring and in the area of the tea shop. Aang had Appa land on a building not far from said tea shop. Toph, Jet, and Sokka all jumped down from Appa while the rest stayed on Appa. If there was trouble, they were to fly away.

“This is the tea shop.” Jet said as they stood in front. “You guys can go ahead in. I’m going to head back to my place and check in on Longshot and Smellerbee. Let me know if you need me.”

“Thanks for your help Jet.” Sokka grumbled.

Toph smiled as they walked into the tea shop. “Uncle!” She called out. “Lee said you were here.”

Sokka noticed all the emotions that went through Iroh all at once: surprise, concern, confusion, and worry.

“You saw my nephew?”

“He’s... not himself right now.” Sokka said, figuring that was the best way to put it. “We told him we could get you for him. He was ecstatic about that.”

“Oh. My poor nephew must be bad off.”

“You have no idea.” It didn’t take long for Iroh to get ready. Sokka debated about telling Iroh how bad Zuko was or letting him find out on his own. The decision was made for him when they arrived back at Appa and he said nothing. At least it would be entertaining to watch.

“Hi! I’m Lee!” Zuko smiled and waved. “You must be my Uncle.”

Sokka didn’t understand why Zuko had to say his name every time he saw someone new. Maybe it had to do with brainwashing.

Iroh sat staring at Zuko with widened eyes. It took a few minutes before he spoke. “Yes. Yes, I’m your Uncle.” He finally said. “I was worried about you when you didn’t come home yesterday. I’m glad to see you are... alive.”

“I’m sorry Uncle! I didn’t mean to make you worry!” Zuko looked ready to cry. “I don’t remember what happened. Long Feng said I fell down and hit my head. I’m so thankful the Dai Li were around to help me.”

“That’s so... kind of them.”

“And I’m going to check out everything to make sure Lee is okay. I’m a healer.”

“Thank you Miss Katara. I’ve heard waterbending healing is the best kind of healing in this particular case.”

“You’re a waterbender?! That’s amazing!” Zuko exclaimed. “I’ve met an airbender and a waterbender. I wish I was a bender.”

Sokka could tell everyone was staring at Zuko. He didn’t even have to look at Aang to know he was most likely staring at Zuko from the top of Appa. How bad did the Dai Li mess up Zuko? “Uh... you’re not a bender?”

“I can’t bend earth and I’ve never been anywhere else but the Earth Kingdom. I don’t remember much before Ba Sing Se but I’m sure I haven’t been elsewhere.”

“You know what? We’re just not going to discuss this right now.” Sokka said, cutting off everyone else. “Nope. Not doing it.”

The ride back to their house was in silence. If someone started to speak up, Sokka silenced them. He couldn’t deal with it right then. He didn’t want to deal with it at all.

~~~~

Iroh wished he was dreaming. That this entire day was a nightmare or a cause of bad tea. He would wake up and Zuko would be in his bed after a night out and not still missing because the Dai Li had him. That wasn’t the case. The bruises forming on his arm from punching himself would be proof of that.

Zuko was not himself. Not in the slightest. He was happy, like he was when he was young, only to the extreme. He seemed to have no knowledge of anything in regards to the Fire Nation. Nor did he recall firebending. Iroh hoped Katara could heal his poor nephew.

“You and... your nephew are going to be with Katara while she does what she can. The rest of us are going to see the Earth King.” Sokka said as they landed.

“And it’s best if the former General who laid siege to Ba Sing Se and a brainwashed Prince aren’t around?” Iroh raised an eyebrow. He knew what Sokka was implying.

“Exactly! See I knew you’d understand!”

Iroh nodded and turned towards Zuko. “Come Nephew, we’re going inside so Miss Katara can help you.”

“What about everyone else?” Zuko pouted. It seemed so odd compared to his constant smiling earlier.

“They have to go elsewhere.”

“Oh, but I don’t want them to leave.” Zuko ran to Sokka and hugged him. “They’re so cute and friendly.”

Sokka blushed and blinked several times as Zuko held onto him. Iroh had no idea what to do or say. This was beyond him.

“You smell nice too. Like what the ocean would smell like. I like it.” Zuko seemed to snuggle into Sokka, who just made noises in shock.

“Nephew, we shouldn’t keep them when they have things to do.” Iroh said. He wondered if, when Zuko regained his memories, Zuko would be furious or embarrassed or indifferent about the situation. None of them were saying anything. They just stared at him. Iroh himself was shocked.

“Oh right. Of course.” Zuko walked away from Sokka and gave Katara a hug as well. “Don’t worry. You’re cute and friendly too!”

“Uh...thanks. I think?” Katara patted Zuko’s head. She managed to break away from Zuko and ran into their house. Zuko followed close behind her.

“I would tell you to be careful with my sister and don’t hurt her but honestly, I think you have more issues.” Sokka looked at Iroh. “It might take a while.”

“Just do me a favor Master Sokka. If you see Long Feng, make sure you let him know how upset I am that he took my nephew.”

“Sure thing Uncle!” Sokka smiled. “I think boomerang and Long Feng will get to know each other real well.”

Iroh nodded his thanks and watched them leave. He took a minute to ready himself tosee his nephew. His nephew who didn’t remember who he was, who his family was, or that he was a firebender. If there was a bright side to all of this it was that he didn’t remember how horrible Ozai was.

~~~~

Katara was conflicted. On the one hand, Zuko didn’t remember anything and wouldn’t be coming after Aang any time soon. On the other, he didn’t remember a thing and was clearly worse off than Jet was. It wasn’t hard to fix Jet. But this? This she wasn’t prepared for. This was going to be a complete build up and no clue to what she was doing or how she was going to fix it. Would it be lasting fix? Would he forget things later on in life? What if she fixed him and the Dai Li got him again? Would he be safe or worse? Would she be able to fix him again if he was retaken? What-

“Should I sit down somewhere in particular?” Zuko cut off her thoughts.

“Oh, um...” She looked around and found the table where they ate. “Sit here. I’ll see what I can do.”

She bent some water and started to work. She tried to go through his mind to build up the forgotten memories. With Jet it didn’t take much but an old memory. With Zuko, who had no memories, she had to see what she could fix. The problem was that there seemed to be a wall around his mind she couldn’t access. She tried to break it down or go around it with no success. It was like the Dai Li built a wall inside his mind.

“Lee, I want you to think about your Uncle. You love your Uncle. The two of you work together. Drink tea together. Can you do that?”

“Try to remember Uncle.” She felt a tiny hole in the wall that closed up as soon as it opened. “I don’t think I remember much. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Turtleducks.” Iroh said as he snuck up behind them.

“What?”

“Le-my Nephew loves turtleducks. They remind him of his mother. Think of turtleducks Nephew.”

Katara still had her water on Zuko as Iroh spoke so it didn’t take much to focus on the wall. There it was! A small hole that was staying open. She chipped away at it until she had a decent chunk off, almost a small section. She felt accomplished and went to move her hands away. As soon as she started to pull away, she felt the wall building itself back up. In a frantic moment, she tried to break away the wall but it sealed itself up and built the wall higher. As if it knew what Katara was doing.

“Hmm... turtleducks.”

Katara could tell he was still thinking, remembering and focusing on what Iroh said but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t break the wall.

“Miss Katara?”

Hearing Iroh’s hopeful voice crushed her. She could feel the tears building up. How could she tell Iroh that she wasn’t sure if Zuko could be fixed?

“Lee, I want you to sit here and rest a little bit. Uncle and I will make some tea, okay?”

“Sure!” He smiled.

Once they were far enough away, Iroh was the first to speak. “Tell me. What’s wrong?”

“I can’t. I can’t fix it.” She felt the tears fall down her face and she refused to look at Iroh. “It’s like there’s a wall built around him that I can’t break. I managed to chip a little away with turtleducks but it built right back up. I can’t... I don’t know... I _can’t_!”

Iroh wrapped her in a hug and she couldn’t stop herself from sobbing in his arms. “It will be okay. This will take work. It won’t be right away. We’ll work on it. We’ll find a way to fix him.”

“But what if there’s not a way to fix him?” Katara cried, finally looking up at Iroh. “What if he’s like this forever?”

“Then we’ll have Lee and forget Zuko.” Iroh gave her a smile but she could see the heartbreak in his eyes. Iroh loved his nephew no matter what. He would love Lee even if it would break him. 

**Author's Note:**

> I like the flirting between Zuko and Sokka and Katara. Will there be a ship? Not sure. Maybe? 
> 
> Also, I had an idea but it went dark. And not sure how dark I want to do this series...
> 
> Comments on both are appreciated.


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